Writing for free

A repost with an update.

I was a party last night and it got to the time of night when strangers start talking to each other. I told a man I was a writer and the conversation turned to writing for free. He asked if I wrote my first article for free then got paid for the rest. I told him no. I expect to be paid for my work. He countered that if I was passionate about writing, I’d write for free to “get out there” then ask to be paid. Maybe if I was starting out but I’m not.

Why is it (and  yes, I know that this is an old question) that people expect “passion” to be free and writers to be self-effacing when asking to be paid?

While most of my writing is paid, I do write for free for Ethnic Aisle and of course for this blog. My reasons for that are: it’s a needed voice in the GTA. I like the stories we’re telling  because we take the time, report on them and offer an alternative voice to ethnic issues beyond what we can access in the media.

Hmm, maybe I’m ok with writing for free if it’s for a good cause. I need to think more about this. I will say that having Ethnic Aisle on my resume (and yes, it’s there) has helped me in my career.

More thoughts are needed.